Using Psi
Psionics is a power which can very easily create world-shattering effects. As such, a GM should take care in allowing it and when dealing with its use. What happens whenever someone uses Psi is entirely up to the GM. The player is allowed to try to do absolutely anything with his power as long as what he's trying to do falls under the description of his power (someone with Technomancy, for example, won't be able to heal human flesh. They might be able to heal people with cybernetic parts, but once again, the limitations on power use are entirely up to the GM). A GM should never say "you can't do that," only try to come up with what might happen based on which power they have and how well they rolled. For example, in playtesting a character got a severe burn on his hand. The team's Technomancer (to continue the example from earlier) tried to heal them using the iron in the blood, but, since this isn't how that power is supposed to work, the GM hatched an idea to make it do something: the iron in the blood came together and formed a new cybernetic hand, which the GM gave Alien Hand Syndrome! Intention That leads us to the most important part of using Psi: intention. What the Psion is trying to do will make something happen, definitely, because a person with a very powerful and sometimes unpredictable power is turning on a switch that makes his power active. What it does, however, may not be exactly what the character wants to do, because as we saw in the previous examples, the power may not be exactly geared toward doing what the character wants at that moment in time. The GM must do his best to make sure that the power being used does something. This is one of the many places in the Hero@Heart system where GM creativity and ingenuity comesin handy. Using Psi Once the intention is told to the GM, the player of the Psion makes a roll on his Psyche, adding Meditation if the character has it. The result of this roll indicates how powerful the effect will be over the course of the next round (or minute) of the Psion concentrating on the effect. The GM must base the effect on the result of this roll, the rules for the type of Psi being used, and his own ingenuity and how he wantswhat is happening to affect the story. The Psion may opt to use a lower success rank than the one he received in order to expend less of his Fortitude (see Continuing Psi Usage, below) or not have such an explosive effect. Continuing Psi Usage One round's worth of Psi use will cost the Psion absolutely nothing. From that point on, however, continued Psi usage will cost the Psion one point of Fortitude per round per rank of success. For this reason, a Psion may choose a lower rank of success than the one he actually received in order to reserve energy. Psi Success A Psion can do literally anything that fits within the description and limitations of his ability as described in their original sections. He may be a ble to lift a battleship out of the water with Telekinesis, or send a message to every single mind in the world with Telepathy. The result of a roll indicates how powerful the currently-used effect is, and may vary greatly from usage to usage. For example, with Telekinesis, the Psion may try to lift a pebble. If he gets a Poor result, the pebble may just roll around and not actually go where the Psion intends. With a Fair roll, it may lift up and float around aimlessly in roughly the direction the Psion intended. With a Good roll, it will go in exactly the direction he intended at a regular speed. With an Excellent roll, it will zip to that point almost like a bullet. However, with a huge boulder, the results would be the same. On a Poor, it might roll left and right a little bit and maybe fall from the place it was perched. On a Fair result, it might lift up a little bit and only move very slowly in somewhat the intended direction. On a Good, it will move at a natural-feeling pace in the right direction, and on an Excellent result it will move straight there in a hurry (although maybe not exactly like a bullet). It may take a while to move it, and so the GM will have to figure out how many rounds of concentration the Psion will be using to move the object, slowly whittling away at his Fortitude. Even on an Excellent roll, it may still take longer than just one round to move the object to its final destination! Every round, the Psion may opt to roll again, but a Failure will mean catastrophe! As in the previous example with the boulder, it would begin to fall immediately upon the failure, and will probably hit the ground before the Psion has a chance to grab it again! The Psion may spend points of his own Psyche, causing temporary Psyche damage, in order to add to this effect. Each point spent adds one rank to the success, but this cannot exceed an Excellent result. He may also spend these points to get a result over a round without meditating. For example, if he wants to hold a boulder in midair for three rounds, the GM may decide this requires a Fair roll for each round. This means the Psion could spend two points of Psyche for each of the three rounds, totalling six temporary Psyche loss, to continue to hold the boulder aloft while he does other things. If the Psion wants to recover from a failure, he can spend double this amount. Thus, if he is holding this boulder with telekinesis and fails one of his rolls, he can spend four points (the GM said a Fair roll, which is two points, could hold it up, so he doubles this amount to recover from the failure) in order to catch the boulder using an "emergency reserve" of Psionic energy. Limitations Most types of Psi have their limitations listed in their individual listings, but most of them are limited only by the line of sight of the Psion. There is one caveat to that, however. The Psion can control things that fall under his power if they are inside something that he can see even if he cannot see them. Thus, if a Psion has Telekinesis, he may not be able to pull an object out that he can't see, because he doesn't know it's there, but if he were to use Geokinesis (for example), he could pull out any metal or stone objects, because his power specifically controls those things. Psyche Damage Due to Psi Usage Losing one's Psyche due to psionics use is similar to losing it due to fear. The mind becomes brittle and can break. Should the Psion's Psyche ever fall to zero, he will fall unconscious and remain in a coma until his Psyche builds back up, which it does at a rate of 1d10 Psyche per day. The Psion will not wake back up until his full Psyche is restored. At this time, he loses 1d10 Psyche PERMANENTLY. The GM may decide to give this character a permanent, random Disadvantage or Insanity effect. Category:ESPER Category:Psi